cprf08 presentation: disruptive innovation, radiohead & nine inch nails

Alex Burnsalex@alexburns.net

Communications Policy Research Form 2008

30th September 2008Version 1.0

Impact Assessment in Disruptive Innovation Markets

1. Two Market Events

10th October 2007 5:30 GMT Radiohead’s In Rainbows

5th May 2008Nine Inch Nails’ The

Slip

“This one’s on me.”— NIN’s Trent Reznor

2. Four Initial Reactions

Reaction #1: Web 2.0

“Yes, it’s pay what you want, including free. Really.”— Radiohead, InRainbows.com (2007)

Radiohead & NIN were ‘early adopters’ of Web 2.0 platforms: MySpace, Facebook, social network sites, user-generated content

Reaction #2: Freeconomics

“Offering free music proved successful for Radiohead, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, and a swarm of other bands on MySpace that grasped the audience-building merits of zero.”— Chris Anderson, “Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business”, Wired Magazine (25th February 2008)

Reaction #3: Disruptive Innovation

“Early estimates pegged the group’s first day take at around $10 million from sales of 1.2 million albums.”— Scott Anthony, “Radiohead’s Disruptive Innovation”, HBS ‘Conversation Starter’ blog (10th October 2007)

Reaction #4: Label Shopping

“Radiohead are currently without a recording contract with a major label . . . [In Rainbows’ release strategy] puts the band in a better negotiation position.”— Alex Burns, “Commentary on [NYT article] ‘In Radiohead Price Plan, Some See a Movement’”, Disinformation® (11th October 2007)

3. Conceptual Frameworks

Music Industry Challenges

Sustaining vs. Disruptive InnovationsSustaining

Ancillary marketsLicensing/

MerchandisingBonus DVD contentDualdisc formatRecording Industry

Association of America’s campaign against digital piracy

DisruptiveAuthorised ‘bootlegs’ by

King Crimson & Pearl JamBowie Bonds (1997)Live Nation Inc.’s ‘360

Deals’ (Madonna, Jay-Z)New market mechanismsFreeconomics releasesWeb 2.0 user-generated

content adopted by artistsArtist distribution &

micro-labels

Disruptive Innovation MarketsImplicit in Clayton Christensen & Scott Anthony’s research:

markets that coalesce around disruptive innovationsCan emerge around new products & services, novel

contexts of use, industry white-spaces and strategic fociA perturbation in the competitive/strategic landscapeMay differ from existing competitive rules and industry

structuresExamples: healthcare, aviation, semiconductors, global

strategy, telecommunications & open source softwareMarket challenges still apply: externalities, gridlock,

regulatory challenges, adverse selection, information asymmetries, market failure

Provides a conceptual framework for further analysis and research

Disruptive Information Revelation

Noise

Information RevelationFrance’s Vivendi SA acquired UMG in 2000 (UMG was NIN’s

label)NIN’s Reznor conducts pricing surveillance on UMG during

2007 Australian tour—tells fans to download albums, forms Null Corp.

EMI backs a buyout by Terra Firma Capital Partners on 21st February 2008; EMI’s shareholders approve deal on 1st August 2007

Radiohead left in first 100 days of Terra Firma Capital Partners’ acquisition of EMI:‘Opinion Leader’ type who leaves if post-merger integration failsRadiohead faced a career ‘strategic inflection point’ (Andy Grove)‘Culture clash’ between EMI, Paul McCartney, Radiohead & othersEMI made errors in ‘cultural due diligence’ and ‘transition

planning’EMI’s threats created a ‘window of opportunity’ for RadioheadEMI engaged in ‘ambush’ marketing for Radiohead’s In Rainbows

4. Case Study Findings

Revisiting #1: Web 2.0Web 2.0 strategy to build autonomy in key processes:

album recording, production and marketingCreated ‘options and alternatives’ during the ‘label

shopping’ phase and artist negotiations with industry music labels

Cost management as a bargaining tactic—avoid major label contracts which force artists to pay for expense items

NIN’s The Slip as an example of Real Options decisions for projects

Simon Reynolds’ Rip It Up & Start Again (2005): many so-called Web 2.0 innovations developed by ‘new wave’ and ‘post-punk’ artists (1978—1984); NIN & Radiohead used late 1990s as incubation period to develop ‘core competencies’ for Web 2.0 strategies

Revisiting #2: Freeconomics

‘Buzz’ for digital downloads: NIN’s The Slip (2008) closely fits Anderson’s Freeconomics model: a way to ensure album release was a media ‘event’, a ‘signal’ of Trent Reznor’s break from his major label UMG, and a Real Options decision to delay alternatives

Spectrum of risk-seeking and risk-averse execution strategies: Radiohead allowed fans to choose a price point for In Rainbows (2007); Reznor gave The Slip away for free

Modifications of Anderson’s Freeconomics model: (1) strategic actors have their own reasons; and (2) have a learning/experience curve for strategy formulation & execution

Suggests way to view Web 2.0: separate yet overlapping and possibly coevolving markets rather than a Kuhnian paradigm change

Revisiting #3: Disruptive Innovation

Radiohead & NIN are positioned as a vanguard of disruptive innovators in digital downloads, production techniques, live

Major labels are positioned as sustaining innovatorsClayton Christensen & Scott Anthony’s work on Disruptive

Innovation Theory predicts Radiohead & NIN would leave their labels

Provides a framework to distinguish trigger events from ‘noise’ in market announcements (Black-Scholes co-creator Fischer Black)

Radiohead & NIN’s concerns precede the emergence of a Disruptive Innovation Market as the sole reason for a digital download release

It’s still unclear if Radiohead & NIN’s actions will create a viable and long-term Disruptive Innovation Market

5. Action Outcomes/Future Research

Self-reflective & practice-based researchFrame conclusions as contingent beliefs

– judgments that are revised on the basis of new information, facilitated by blog publishing systems

Avoid hindsight and survivorship biasesNassim Nicholas Taleb’s sceptical

epistemology (Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan) on new product/service announcements and other major claims

Insights for Journalists

“Trying to model something that escapes modelization is the heart of the problem.”

— Nicholas Taleb, “Fear of a Black Swan”, Fortune Magazine(14th April 2008), pp. 60-61

Regulatory frameworks for Disruptive Innovation Markets:

Market design—prevent market ‘failure’Anticipatory regulationAntitrust and competition policyInnovation capabilities

New forms of industry dynamics & market structure

Use a more diverse policy ecosystemTap open commons spaces to encourage

debate

Insights for Policymakers

‘Thought leadership’ in M&A due diligence, event arbitrage & risk management

Disruptive innovations as opportunities (gap between market perception and risk repricing); Disruptive Information Revelation provides a framework

Opportunity to develop new valuation models:

‘Hurdle’ measures for project financingEvents & risks in ‘due diligence’ phase of M&AStrategic execution for time-based competition‘Stress-testing’ for Disruptive Innovation Markets

Insights for Valuation Analysts

Questions?